Ambassador Roderick van Schreven

The Commission at its 65th session (9-11 April 2013) elected its new Bureau, with the Netherlands as Chair and Switzerland and Turkmenistan as Vice-Chairs.

Ambassador Roderick van Schreven is Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization in Geneva.

He served previously as Director-General for Foreign Economic Relations (Ministry of Economic Affairs) from March 2006 till beginning of 2011.

A career diplomat, Van Schreven was the Netherlands Ambassador in Damascus (Syria) from 2002-2006 and was posted in the beginning of his career at the Netherlands Embassy in Caracas (Venezuela) and the Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels.

He was also Deputy Director for European Integration at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and executive officer in charge of the logistical implementation of the agreement between the Netherlands and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Before joining the diplomatic service Van Schreven set out on a career in the private sector. He worked for a yachting company Exa Nautica in Geneva and was Marketing Director for La Chemise Lacoste in Geneva and Paris.

A Dutch national, Van Schreven was born in Ottawa and educated in the Netherlands, Switzerland and France. He earned an MBA at INSEAD and holds a degree in Economics from the University of Geneva. Mr. Van Schreven is fluent in English and French.

Roderick van Schreven is an avid sailor. In 1977-78 he competed in the Whitbread Round the World Race. Van Schreven is married with three children.